Taiwan News Quick Take

Staff writer, with Agencies

Wed, Jul 31, 2013 - Page 5

WEATHER

Taipei posts record heat

Thermometers in Taipei showed 37.9oC yesterday, marking the highest temperature the city has experienced this year, as well as in it its recorded history, according to the Central Weather Bureau. The high was recorded at 12:45pm, breaking the previous record of 37.7oC recorded on May 26, 1991. The mercury also hit an annual high in New Taipei City (新北市), surging to 36.9oC at about noon. Temperatures across most of the nation ranged from 32oC to 36oC as warm winds blew across the country, the bureau said.

CRIME

Chiayi police seize drugs

Investigators in Chiayi County apprehended a gang while it was attempting to smuggle amphetamine worth NT$10 million (US$334,336) from China aboard a fishing boat, leading to the detention of four suspects by prosecutors on Monday. Acting on a tip from an informant received earlier in the year, Chiayi prosecutors and police formed a special task force to investigate the gang. Police said that after learning that the price of amphetamine had surged recently due to strong demand, two members of the gang headed to China’s Fujian Province to negotiate the drug deal. They then enlisted the skipper of a Taiwanese fishing boat to transport the smuggled goods across the Taiwan Strait. The two gang members then delivered the drugs to a buyer at a motel in Taoyuan, at which point police intercepted the shipment and detained the three men. The skipper was detained separately. The team seized 10 packages of amphetamine weighing a total of 10kg, as well as 39.5g of heroin. On the streets, 1kg of amphetamine can fetch more than NT$1 million.